AMD Ryzen 3 3300X vs. Intel Core i3 10100 In 350+ Benchmarks
Following our Intel Core i5 10600K and Core i9 10900K Linux benchmarks, here is a look at the lowest-end Core "Comet Lake" processor in the form of the Core i3 10100. Thanks to the increased pressure from AMD Ryzen, Intel now has a 4 core / 8 thread Core i3 processor at less than $150 USD. Here is a head-to-head matchup of the AMD Ryzen 3 3300X and Intel Core i3 10100 processors in more than 350 benchmarks while also looking at the power and thermal efficiency in this largest comparison to date for these low-end desktop CPUs.
The Ryzen 3 3300X launched back in May to great success for budget desktop users. The Ryzen 3 3300X as a reminder is 4 cores / 8 threads, 3.8GHz base clock. 4.3GHz boost clock. 16MB L3 cache, and a 65 Watt TDP while retailing in the $120~130 USD range.
The Core i3 10100 Comet Lake meanwhile is 4 cores / 8 threads with a 3.8GHz base clock and 4.3GHz turbo clock just like the Ryzen 3 3300X along with a 65 Watt TDP. But the i3-10100 has just a 6MB cache and is still a 14nm part with PCI Express 3.0 unlike the 7nm PCIe 4.0 Zen 2 processors. For what it's worth, the Core i3 10100 also has the Intel UHD Graphics 630 capabilities as well for those wanting integrated graphics. Currently the Intel Core i3 10100 can be found in retail channels for around $140 USD -- I bought the i3-10100 for this Linux testing for $142 USD a little more than a week ago.
Both CPUs were tested with their stock coolers. For the Ryzen 3 3300X was an ASRock X570 Pro4 motherboard and the Core i3 10100 with the ASUS PRIME Z490M-PLUS motherboard. The CPUs were tested with the same 2 x 8GB DDR4-3600 Corsair kit, Corsair Force MP510 240GB NVMe SSD, and Radeon RX 590 graphics.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS was running throughout the tests with GCC 9.3 and using the Linux 5.7 kernel. The Linux 5.7 kernel was also patched with the AMD Energy driver for being able to expose the package power consumption for comparison to the Intel CPU package power consumption reported through Linux's RAPL framework. These counters were used for looking at the reported CPU package power consumption rather than the AC wall power consumption to factor out the motherboard differences. The CPU temperatures were also monitored throughout the benchmarking process with the Phoronix Test Suite.